Expats say summer in Japan is ...

Summer is oft cited as the best time of year for many, but does this remain true for expats in Japan? The season over here is certainly not without its challenges. Over the course of July we posed some of the hard questions to the City-Cost community to find out what you/they thought about summer in Japan.

1) Complete this sentence with a word or a phrase; 'Summer in Japan is ... '

Quite understandably, many people completed this sentence with words to the effect that summer in Japan is hot and humid. In the table below, we've picked up some of the answers that offered something a little different.

thrilling

noisy

full of opportunity

gross

can catch the sight of people wearing yukata

the season of hanabi

enjoying the sound of semi (cicadas)

traveling to remote areas on a budget and seeing the things that are not the recommended tourist spots

school break

when people are having longest vacation a year and spend money for travel

fun in a youthful way nostalgic of beloved scenes in anime involving high-school students playing with fireworks by the river

too hot yet yet enkais (parties) galore so I'm still happy

ordinary

a fun time to soak up some sun and take a dip in the beach

old fashioned

a new adventure

disgusting

fun, exciting and there's a lot of new things to explore

2) What, for you, are the best things about summer in Japan? Rank the following (1 = high / 10 = low). Here are the results ..

1

Walking into a building with air conditioning

2

Fireworks events

3

Going to the beach

4

Eating watermelon

5

Trips to the mountains

6

Eating kakigori (shaved ice)

7

'Cool Biz' (wearing more casual clothes to work)

8

Going to outdoor swimming pools

9

Rooftop beer gardens

10

Summer music festivals (Fuji Rock, Summer Sonic e.t.c)

3) What, for you, are the frustrating/hard aspects of life in Japan during the summer? Rank the following (1= most frustrating/hardest)

1

Coming out of an air-conditioned building

2

Not very cool air conditioner settings at work

3

Cicadas (in Japan, 'semi'), mosquitoes, cockroaches, and other bugs

4

Smelly/sweaty passengers on trains

5

Getting to sleep

6

That Japanese society doesn't seem to slow down for summer

7

Having to work

8

People who hold umbrellas to protect against the sun (particularly in crowded areas)

9

Lack of appetite

10

Japan's lack of choice when it comes to sun cream/sun block

4) What kind of advice would you give to others as to how best to deal with the heat and humidity of the Japanese summer?

Plenty of sound advise was given here. Common amongst the comments was the importance of staying hydrated. In regards to this, we don't know about you guys, but we often hear conflicting reports about how to do this; Just water is no good, you need to take in sports drinks, too. Stay away from sports drinks and stick to water.

A lot of people, it seems, are big believers in carry around towels and face wipes. Some people are wrapping their towels around ice packs, and even soaking them in water and putting them in the freezer for later use. One person also pointed out that you can get special pads to put under your armpits to prevent sweat in, err, that zone.

Loose clothing came up a few times, as did those high-tech 'non sweat' t-shirts and under shirts that you can find in plenty of stores in Japan. There was a comment from someone who lamented the large abandonment of traditional clothing during this time, and gave the suggestion that it would be good to wear yukata or jinbei regardless if there's a festival on or not.

Of course, there were plenty of suggestions to stay in an air-con zone, and also to get up earlier than usual and get things done/get to work before the day really heats up.

In the home, we were also reminded of the importance of taking out the trash to reduce the risk of maggots and flies.

Ultimately though, it seems impossible to avoid the heat and humidity of a Japanese summer altogether. As one person succinctly said, Get used to it!

1 Comment

Yup! I think my first year in JapanI got really surprised how quickly the trash get infested with maggots >_> so whenever it's summer, i usually clean my house and take out the garbage to avoid those pesky insects,